Bid to save nuclear deal

Iran ready to work on French proposals

Says FM; Tehran shows off new missile defence system

REUTERS, Oslo

Iran is prepared to work on French proposals to salvage the international nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015 but it will not tolerate US interference in the Gulf, its foreign minister said yesterday.

At a time of heightened friction between Tehran and Washington, Iran also displayed what it described as a domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defence system.

The United State abandoned the international nuclear deal in May last year and stepped up sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

In an effort to prop up the agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Wednesday to either soften sanctions on Iran or provide a compensation mechanism “to enable the Iranian people to live better” in return for full compliance with the pact.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he was looking forward to having a serious conversation with Macron in Paris today. “There are proposals on the table, both from the French and the Iranian side, and we are going to work on those proposals tomorrow,” he said

Zarif also warned against US efforts to create a security mission, which so far Britain, Australia and Bahrain have joined, to guard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital gateway for global oil supplies.

In his speech in Oslo, Zarif said Iran would not start a war in the Gulf but it would defend itself.